Discriminative Chromogenic Detection of Fluoride and Cyanide Ions.

A silylated chalcone based sensing probe was designed and synthesized for both simultaneous as well as discriminative detection of fluoride and cyanide ions. The probe showed chromogenic response after the addition of either fluoride or cyanide ion. However, addition of water caused discoloration of the probe solution in case of fluoride ion only while no such change was observed in case of cyanide ions. The probe was found to be selective for the colorimetric detection of F‐ and CN‐ions as it did not generate any chromogenic response in presence of other analyte. For fluoride ions, the detection limit of sensor was calculated to be 0.075 μM while in case of cyanide ions; the detection limit was determined to be 0.23 and 0.44 μM in absence and in presence of water respectively. Practical utility of the proposed method was also demonstrated by testing the real water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]